Roundup: A nuanced conversation post-interview? Hardly.

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I’ll say right off that I did not watch That Interview last night because I was trying to have what little life I have available to me in these pandemic times, but judging from the reaction over the Twitter Machine, I have a feeling that we’re in for a week full of boneheaded op-eds and “tough questions” about being a constitutional monarchy, or whether we should abandon the monarchy. Well, good luck with that, because we’d need to rewrite the constitution from top to bottom, because the Crown is the central organising principle, and good luck deciding on just what we would replace the monarchy with. No, seriously – good luck, because that exercise went so poorly in Australia that not only did their republican referendum failed, but support for the monarchy has been on the rise since.

https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/1368770788128620544

https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/1368771249464348677

https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/1368771778047262727

https://twitter.com/EmmMacfarlane/status/1368772293552267270

And lo, some of our country’s Serious Journalists are already Asking Questions™. And it’s going about as well as you can expect.

So, yeah. That’s what we can look forward to this week. I can’t wait, because I’m sure it’ll be even dumber than we expect.

https://twitter.com/tomhawthorn/status/1368818526564229121

Good reads:

  • Patty Hajdu says that the topic of “vaccine passports” is a very live issue among her international counterparts.
  • The co-chair of the Immunity Task Force explains why she is in favour of extending second doses of vaccines to up to 40 days apart.
  • Apparently, a senior naval officer was threatened after reporting the allegations around Admiral Art McDonald (which really isn’t all that surprising).
  • The acting Chief of Defence Staff sent out a letter to Canadian Forces personnel saying that there must be a culture change within the military.
  • The Conservatives plan to call Harjit Sajjan and two senior Liberal staffers to the defence committee to answer about the General Vance allegations.
  • Here is a deeper look into the grocery oligopolies charging increased fees to producers, and why this is a problem that needs all levels of government to end.
  • Here is a first look at the legacy that Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Abella will leave when she retires this summer.
  • There are concerns that in the search for Abella’s successor that the federal government will privilege bilingualism over getting a more diverse candidate.
  • As the Conservative Party policy convention approaches, here is yet another look at how the party is increasingly unhappy with Erin O’Toole’s leadership.
  • Anti-abortion activists among grassroots Conservatives believe they have enough votes to re-open the abortion debate at the upcoming policy convention.
  • Chantal Hébert diagnoses some of the reasons why the pandemic has been so hard on Erin O’Toole’s popularity.
  • Chris Selley notes that while some of the grumbling over O’Toole’s leadership within the party may be overblown, they have reason given that he is now all over the map.
  • Susan Delacourt remarks on the irony of the provinces threatening to support other parties in an election over health transfers without conditions.

Odds and ends:

It’s Commonwealth Day today, and the Queen crafted a message of friendship and family for the day during these drying times.

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One thought on “Roundup: A nuanced conversation post-interview? Hardly.”

  1. Dale, could you *PLEASE* do an informational video answering some questions about the Meghan and Harry “status”? Like citizenship for instance. If Harry is no longer a royal, does that mean he’s still a British citizen but not a citizen of the Commonwealth? What is Meghan’s citizenship? Is Harry an American now? Is he even allowed to be an American? Is Archie eligible to run for office someday, and if so where? Could he run for U.S. president and the British or Canadian prime minister, just one, or none at all? Does Brexit and its potential after effects have any bearing on nationality? As in, is/was Harry a “U.K.” citizen or a “British” one, and what happens if Scotland peels off to the E.U.? Would he have to apply for citizenship there if they weren’t part of the U.K. anymore, or would he still have it as his “birthright” even if they were an independent country? Does Archie have to sign up for Selective Service in the U.S.? If Trump was still president, would he have the right to deport them? Where would they go if he did?

    If Trudeau had wanted to offer them security after they got cut off by the Crown, would that raise a constitutional crisis around defying the queen? If Trudeau insisted, would he get removed from office? What if Scheer was PM and pressed for it? He’s part American, what would happen in that case? Would the PM even have that authority or would that be a decision directed to the RCMP? If Harry and Meghan aren’t Canadian citizens anymore, can Trudeau make them honorary Canadians? How would he go about doing that? Does Harry have to be a Canadian citizen if Trudeau wanted him to be the new Governor General? He probably wouldn’t want to be the G-G or have any official capacity in Commonwealth governments at this point, but procedurally speaking, can Harry be PM if he wants to? Where is he “from” now?

    And the question that I most want to know and I’ve seen a lot of people asking already, what’s Harry’s last name? Is he allowed to go by Windsor, or can he change it to something else if he wanted to, like Harry Spencer after his mum? Or is he just one of those one-named public figures like Madonna or Cher, i.e., “The Harry formerly known as Prince”?

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